


Family Ties

by wcdarling



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: A Stitch in Time - Andrew Robinson, Abusive Parents, Angst, Bad Parenting, Episode: s05e16 Doctor Bashir I Presume, Families of Choice, Family Issues, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon Cardassia, Post-Episode: s05e16 Doctor Bashir I Presume
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 12:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12841272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wcdarling/pseuds/wcdarling
Summary: Elim Garak, Kelas Parmak and Julian Bashir have all settled into life together on post-Canon Cardassia. They're talking about getting enjoined. But Julian has some concerns, which keep him awake at night. Elim is forced to question him, very gently.





	Family Ties

**Author's Note:**

> I got really, really depressed and morose today and started wondering if I could translate that into a fic. Maybe something about Julian being depressed. So I started with that and while it didn't come out as him being depressed exactly, it's definitely based on him ruminating about stuff.

When Elim woke, Kelas was already sitting up on the edge of the bed. There was a conspicuous gap in the middle of the mattress.

"Julian's gone out," Kelas unannounced softly, without prompting.

Elim slipped aside the blanket and sat up on his side of the bed. "Out where?"

"Into the yard, I think," Kelas sighed. "I almost got up to look, at least from the window, but then I knew you'd wake up anyway, and you're the one who should go talk to him."

Elim turned and tried to read Kelas' face. "Why me?" 

Kelas simply gave him a slow blink, then jerked his head towards the door.

Standing at the edge of the yard, wearing a robe and slippers, Elim watched his old friend, now lover, as he paced around the central monument. Despite Elim's quiet approach, Julian's enhanced hearing likely meant he knew he was being observed, but for now he was pretending he didn't, and his apparent misery seemed pure and unconscious.

Elim took in the sight of the human in the moonlight. He was wearing the very light robe Elim had fashioned for him, along with a pair of simple sandals, which would protect his feet against the gravel of the yard. The little rocks were nothing to a Cardassian, but humans are made of softer stuff. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could protect Julian's heart.

"I thought this was where I'd find you," he announced, stepping forward.

Julian ceased his pacing and turned. "You mean you discussed it with Kelas. And yes, I suppose it's obvious. If you didn't find me in the kitchen drinking tea, this is where you'd look. I'm not going to run off. I meant what I said, I'm staying here – forever." 

They were now standing just a few feet apart. "I didn't think you were going to run off. But I knew all evening you were upset."

Julian bit his lip and looked down. "I tried not to be and I tried not to seem it. But once we went to bed, I got to thinking.."

Elim gestured to a nearby bench. "Thinking about what?"

Julian sat down and took Elim's hands in his. "About our enjoining." His hands tightened. "No, no regrets about that, no problems about that — I _want_ that, I do. It's something else."

Elim exhaled, knowing he must look pathetically grateful but really, who could blame him? He, Kelas, and Julian were to be enjoined. It had been Kelas's idea, which was inevitable, since he was the link between the two of them. Elim probably would have futzed around with the idea for years, while Julian would not have even known enough about Cardassian customs to propose such a thing.

"What is it, dear?" he prompted, nudging Julian's shoulder with his own.

"It's just the notion of _family_ ," he said slowly. "You know, when we were talking about wedding traditions… families meeting one another, families coming in attendance, things like that." 

Elim nodded. "Yes, and it struck me how none of us really has any family to worry about. Or, you have your parents, but Kelas and I don't, and no family—"

Julian let go of Elim's hands. "That's what I'm talking about! How sad is it that none of us have families?"

Elim tried to decipher the look on Julian's face but failed. "We three all have our little tragic stories, dear. Our secrets are all out now. This is just something we have in common." He couldn't tell what Julian was thinking. "I believe it's one thing that's drawn you and I together. Even though your parents are still around."

That got a reaction. Julian turned away. "They're really not, though."

"Well, true, they're on Earth."

"I don't mean that, Elim," Julian corrected sadly, rising from the bench and walking again towards the central monument. "The last I saw them was four years ago. I accept messages from them, when they come, but only reply back once a year. I didn't let them know I was coming to Cardassia and I still haven’t."

Elim was still trying to make out Julian's mood: furious or miserable?

"Ever since things came out about my augmentation, since my parents came to the station, since _everything_ , everyone has been trying to get me to reconcile with them," he said quickly, dismissively. "Miles, Benjamin, Jadzia... they all tried. And then here, Kelas has asked me about it. I’ve tried to explain and he’s tried to tell me how we can all be on good terms again. But he doesn’t understand! My patients have asked me about it — where are my parents, are they going to visit, am I going to visit them, do I write to them?"

Julian walked back to the bench. "Everyone seems to have this sense of familial duty and piety, that you owe it to your parents to have a relationship, no matter what..." Julian’s dark eyes caught Elim's in his. "But I just don't have it. I don't have the human version of it, I don't have the Cardassian version of it."

_Oh._

"So the short version of this is you're trying to tell me you hate your parents?"

Julian laughed darkly. "Something like that. I mean, hate is based on love and all that, but I don't want anything to do with them, even if they are the only blood family I'm left with."

Julian's parents, in having their son genetically altered, had been forced to sever their ties with all their relatives for the purpose of self-protection. It was something almost worthy of Tain.

He offered a hand. "I think I understand, my love." Julian accepted and squeezed. "Come back to bed. We'll talk with Kelas."

Together they padded back into the house. Kelas was awake, reading from a PADD with the lights on low.

"Hello, dears. How are the memorials?"

"Lovely in the moonlight." Elim looked to their human partner. "Julian has decided something about our enjoining." 

"And what's that?"

Julian took a seat at the corner of the bed. "I've decided I'd like it very much if in our ceremony, in our proceedings, we could leave out all mention of family, at least all _past_ family. Instead, I’d like to focus on what we are to each other now and what we could be to one another in the future."

Over by the doorway Elim was smiling and gave Kelas a nod, a clear prompt. "Of course. That should work for all of us." 

"Now why don't we all get back in bed?" Elim suggested cheerfully. "I think there's at least four hours before sun up."

In answer Julian tossed off his robe and settled in beside Kelas. Elim quickly took his place on the other edge. Once they arranged the blanket, the lights went out.

"Thank you, Elim."

"For what? All I did was go check and see why our bed-warmer was missing."

"You liar." 

"You're welcome."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. You can see all my other stuff under my profile. Lots of other Garashir and some DS9 podfics I've recorded. Also my Garashir blog is on Tumblr: [Garak + Bashir](http://gplusbfics.tumblr.com/).


End file.
